JP5523264B2 - Image forming system and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming apparatus.

  Some image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers, and multifunction machines have a web server function. When a host device such as a personal computer transmits a transmission request for HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) data to a predetermined URL (Universal Resource Locator) of such an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus HTML data describing the state is transmitted to the host device. Then, the host device displays the device status based on the HTML data (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This device status is a status of an internal device such as a printer or a facsimile, and takes values such as “no abnormality” and “communication error”.

JP 2004-206456 A

  In the above technique, a user operating the host device at a position away from the image forming apparatus can know the state of the internal device of the image forming apparatus by looking at the device state displayed on the host apparatus. It is impossible to know the state of the user who is using the operation panel of the image forming apparatus (whether there is a user, which user, what he is doing, etc.).

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming system and an image forming apparatus capable of remotely knowing a state of a user who uses an operation panel of the image forming apparatus. To do.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

An image forming system according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus connected to a network and a terminal device connected to the network. The image forming apparatus authenticates the user at the time of login of the user based on the user interface and the user's operation on the user interface , identifies the display name of the user from the user ID, and the login user. An HTML file including a status management unit for monitoring the operation status, the display name of the user specified by the login processing unit, and operation status data indicating the user operation status obtained by the status management unit is transmitted to the web browser of the terminal device. And a first communication processing unit having a web server function . The terminal device transmits the above-mentioned HTML file request to the image forming apparatus, receives the HTML file transmitted from the image forming apparatus, and logs in to the image forming apparatus based on the HTML file. A display control unit for displaying the display name and operation status of the user who is operating on the display device. Then, the status management unit (a) when the user performs an operation to display the operation screen of a certain type of job on the user interface, the status management unit stores the operation status data until the next operation is detected. If it is detected that (b) pressing of the reset button on the user interface is detected, or if there is no operation for the user interface by the logged-in user for a predetermined time, the operation is continued until the next operation is detected. Status data is waiting.

  Thereby, the state of the user who is using the operation panel of the image forming apparatus can be known from the remote terminal device.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention authenticates a user at the time of user login based on a communication device connected to a network, a user interface, and a user operation on the user interface , and displays a user display name from the user ID. A login processing unit for identifying the user, a status management unit for monitoring the operation status of the logged-in user, and a display name of the user identified by the login processing unit in response to a request from the terminal device using the communication device And a communication processing unit having a web server function for transmitting an HTML file including operation status data indicating a user operation status obtained by the status management unit to a web browser of the terminal device. Then, the status management unit (a) when the user performs an operation to display the operation screen of a certain type of job on the user interface, the status management unit stores the operation status data until the next operation is detected. If it is detected that (b) pressing of the reset button on the user interface is detected, or if there is no operation for the user interface by the logged-in user for a predetermined time, the operation is continued until the next operation is detected. Status data is waiting.

Accordingly, the operation status can be displayed on the terminal device based on the operation status data, and the status of the user using the operation panel of the image forming apparatus can be known from the remote terminal device. Further, it is possible to remotely know whether there is a user using the operation panel of the image forming apparatus, which user, what is being done, and the like. Furthermore, the operation status of the user who is using the image forming apparatus can be displayed on the terminal device using a general-purpose web browser.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the image forming equipment described above may be as follows. In this case, the login processing unit permits the user to log in without performing user authentication, and sets a predetermined value including an unknown user or a blank as the display name .

  According to the present invention, the state of a user who is using the operation panel of the image forming apparatus can be known from a remote terminal device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the terminal device in FIG. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of each apparatus in the image forming system shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen including a panel operation status screen displayed on the terminal device shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the system shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 is connected to a network 2, and a terminal device 3 is connected to the network 2. The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus such as a printer, a scanner, a copier, or a multifunction machine. The image forming apparatus 1 is shared by a plurality of users. Each user can use the image forming apparatus 1 by directly operating the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 1, and from the remote terminal device 3. The image forming apparatus 1 can be used.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 in FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes a printer 11, a scanner 12, a facsimile device 13, an operation panel 14, a communication device 15, and an arithmetic processing device 16.

  The printer 11 is an internal device that prints a document image based on print data. The scanner 12 is an internal device that optically reads a document image from a document and generates image data of the document image. The facsimile machine 13 is an internal device that generates and transmits a facsimile signal from image data of a document image to be transmitted, and receives the facsimile signal and converts it into image data.

  The operation panel 14 is disposed on the surface of the casing of the image forming apparatus 1 and includes a display device that displays various types of information to the user and an input device that detects a user operation. For example, a liquid crystal display is used as the display device. A key switch, a touch panel, or the like is used as the input device. The key switch is a hardware key, and a software key is realized by a display device and a touch panel. As described above, the operation panel 14 is a user interface of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The communication device 15 is connected to the network 2 and performs data communication with other devices (such as the terminal device 3) via the network 2 using a predetermined communication protocol. As the communication device 15, a network interface, a modem, or the like is used.

  The arithmetic processing unit 16 is a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and loads a program from a storage device, ROM, etc. (not shown) to the RAM. Various processing units are realized by executing the program by the CPU.

  After the image forming apparatus 1 is activated, various programs are appropriately executed by the arithmetic processing unit 16. In this embodiment, the arithmetic processing unit 16 causes an operating system (not shown), a controller 31, a communication processing unit 32, a panel control unit 33, a job control unit 34, an authentication authorization management unit 35, a status management unit 36, and a web server management. Processing units such as the unit 37 and the service execution unit 38 are realized.

  The controller 31 is a processing unit that monitors and controls internal devices such as the printer 11, the scanner 12, the facsimile machine 13, and the operation panel 14. The controller 31 notifies the status management unit 36 of the state of the internal device.

  The communication processing unit 32 is a processing unit that controls the communication device 15 to execute data communication. The communication processing unit 32 includes a web server and communicates with the web browser of the terminal device 3 using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

  The panel control unit 33 is a processing unit that uses the controller 31 to display various screens on the operation panel 14, detects a user operation on the operation panel 14, and performs screen transition according to the user operation. The panel control unit 33 notifies the status management unit 36 of the detected user operation.

  The job control unit 34 is a processing unit that executes a job according to a request received by the service execution unit 38. The job control unit 34 uses the controller 31 to operate an internal device (such as the printer 11) according to the job type.

  The authentication authorization management unit 35 performs user authentication, determines whether or not to allow the user to log in, and permits the user to execute a job for one or more predetermined job types based on the job authorization information. Determine whether or not. The authentication authorization management unit 35 specifies attribute information (user display name, e-mail address, etc.) of a logged-in user (that is, a user permitted to log in) as necessary. The user attribute information is associated with the user ID, and the attribute information of the logged-in user is specified based on the user ID input at the time of login. The user display name is a name registered separately from the user ID.

  The authentication authorization management unit 35 prohibits operations other than the login operation on the operation panel 14 when the user is not logged in. If the logout button on the operation panel 14 is pressed after the user logs in, the authentication authorization management unit 35 performs logout processing and returns the operation panel 14 to a state where the user is not logged in.

  The status management unit 36 receives the information on the internal device state from the controller 31 and the information on the user operation status from the panel control unit 33, and indicates data indicating the current internal device status and the current user operation status. Retain data.

  Note that, when pressing of the reset button on the operation panel 14 is detected, the status management unit 36 sets the data indicating the user operation status to a predetermined value such as “waiting” until the next operation is detected. To do.

  If it is detected by an auto-clear timer or the like that the user who has logged in does not operate the operation panel 14 for a predetermined time, the status management unit 36 displays the user operation status until the next operation is detected. The indicated data is set to a predetermined value such as “waiting”.

  The web server management unit 37 generates an HTML file including the display name of the logged-in user, the data indicating the current internal device status, and the data indicating the user operation status, and transmits the HTML file using the web server function of the communication processing unit 32. To do. If no user is logged in, for example, the display name of the user is “None”, and the data indicating the user operation status is “None”.

  The service execution unit 38 receives a user request (printing, copying, facsimile transmission, system setting change, etc.) based on a user operation on the operation panel 14 or a command supplied from the terminal device 3 via the network 2, and responds to the request. Execute the process. The service execution unit 38 causes the job control unit 34 to execute jobs such as printing, copying, and facsimile transmission.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the terminal device 3 in FIG. The terminal device 3 is, for example, a personal computer having a network communication function in which an operating system, a web browser, and the like are installed.

  The terminal device 3 includes a communication device 41, a display device 42, an input device 43, and an arithmetic processing device 44.

  The communication apparatus 41 is an apparatus that is connected to the network 2 and performs data communication with other apparatuses (such as the image forming apparatus 1) via the network 2 using a predetermined communication protocol. As the communication device 41, a network interface, a modem, or the like is used.

  The display device 42 is a device such as a liquid crystal display that displays various screens for a user of the terminal device 3 (a user different from the logged-in user of the image forming apparatus 1, hereinafter referred to as a remote user). The input device 43 is a device such as a keyboard and a mouse that detects a user operation by a remote user.

  The arithmetic processing unit 44 is a computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and loads various programs from a storage device, a ROM, etc. (not shown) to the RAM, and executes the programs on the CPU, thereby allowing various processing units to be executed. Realize.

  After starting up the terminal device 3, various programs are appropriately executed by the arithmetic processing device 44. In this embodiment, the processing unit 44 implements processing units such as an operating system (not shown), a communication processing unit 61, and a web browser 62.

  The communication processing unit 61 is a processing unit that controls the communication device 41 to execute data communication. The web browser 62 is a processing unit that uses the communication processing unit 61 to acquire an HTML file from a web server by HTTP and display a screen based on the HTML file on the display device 42. In particular, the web browser 62 receives data indicating the current internal device state of the image forming apparatus 1 and data indicating the current user operation status of the image forming apparatus 1 from the web server at a predetermined URL of the image forming apparatus 1. Is a display control unit that receives an HTML file including, parses the HTML file, and causes the display device 42 to display a screen including the internal device status and the user operation status.

  Next, the operation of each device in the system will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of each apparatus in the image forming system shown in FIG.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when a user A among a plurality of users sharing the image forming apparatus 1 performs an input operation such as a user ID to log in to the image forming apparatus 1, panel control is performed. The unit 33 detects the operation on the operation panel 14 and supplies the input user ID or the like (for example, a user ID or a pair of user ID and password) to the authentication authorization management unit 35. The authentication authorization management unit 35 performs user authentication with the user ID or the like, and permits login if the user who entered the user ID or the like is a regular user (step S1).

  Further, when detecting a user operation on the operation panel 14, the panel control unit 33 notifies the status management unit 36.

  For example, when the user performs a login operation, the status management unit 36 determines that the user is performing the login operation, and sets the data indicating the operation status as “login operation in progress” until the next operation is detected. .

  When the user performs an operation for displaying the copy operation screen on the operation panel 14, the status management unit 36 determines that the user is performing the copy operation and indicates the operation status until the next operation is detected. Assume that the data is “copying in progress”.

  When the user performs an operation for displaying the document box operation screen on the operation panel 14, the status management unit 36 determines that the user is operating the document box, and determines the operation status until the next operation is detected. The data indicating is “operating document box”.

  When the user performs an operation for displaying the facsimile transmission operation screen on the operation panel 14, the status management unit 36 determines that the user is performing the facsimile transmission operation, and continues until the next operation is detected. Is indicated as “during facsimile transmission operation”.

  When the user performs an operation for displaying the transmission operation screen on the operation panel 14, the status management unit 36 determines that the user is performing the transmission operation, and indicates the operation status until the next operation is detected. Data is assumed to be “sending operation”. Here, the transmission is a job for transferring image data to another apparatus on the network 2 by TWAIN, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SMB (Server Message Block), or the like.

  On the other hand, in the terminal device 3, when a user B (that is, a remote user) different from the user A operates the input device 43 and inputs a display request for the panel operation status screen, the web browser 62 performs the operation. Then, using the communication processing unit 61, an HTTP command that is an HTML file transmission request is transmitted to a predetermined URL of the image forming apparatus 1 (step S3). The HTTP command is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 2 by the communication device 15.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when the communication processing unit 32 receives the HTTP command via the communication device, the authentication authorization management unit 35 first identifies the display name of the logged-in user and supplies it to the web server management unit 37. At the same time (step S4), the status management unit 36 supplies data indicating the current internal device status and data indicating the current user operation status to the web server management unit 37 (step S5).

  The web server management unit 37 generates HTML data including the user display name from the authentication authorization management unit 35, the data indicating the internal device status from the status management unit 36, and the data indicating the current user operation status (step S6). ).

  And the web server management part 37 makes the produced | generated HTML data into an HTML file, and transmits to the terminal device 3 as a response of the above-mentioned HTTP command with the web server of the communication process part 32 (step S7).

  In the terminal device 3, when the web browser 62 receives the HTML file via the communication device 41 and the communication processing unit 61, the screen based on the HTML file is displayed on the display device 42 (step S8). The screen includes a panel operation status screen.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen including a panel operation status screen displayed on the terminal device 3 illustrated in FIG. 1. The screen shown in FIG. 5 includes an internal device status screen 101 and a panel operation status screen 102. The internal device status screen 101 displays the status of each internal device of the image forming apparatus 1, and the panel operation status screen 102 displays the display name of the user who is logged in to the image forming apparatus 1 and the status of the user. (What you are doing) is displayed. The panel operation status screen 102 allows the remote user to know the user operation status that cannot be understood from the internal device status screen 101 alone.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, in the image forming apparatus 1, the authentication authorization management unit 35 permits the user to log in based on the user's operation on the operation panel 14, and the status management unit 36 The operation status of the logged-in user is monitored, and the communication processing unit 32 transmits operation status data indicating the user's operation status obtained by the status management unit 36 to the terminal device 3. On the other hand, in the terminal device 3, the communication processing unit 61 transmits a request for operation status data to the image forming apparatus 1, receives the operation status data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1, and the web browser 62 Based on the status data, the operation status of the user who has logged in to the image forming apparatus 1 is displayed on the display device 42.

  Thereby, the remote terminal device 3 can know the state of the user who is using the operation panel 14 of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, the remote user can remotely know whether or not the image forming apparatus 1 is being used by another user before going to the installation place of the image forming apparatus 1 in order to use the image forming apparatus 1.

  The above-described embodiments are preferred examples of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the authentication authorization management unit 35 permits the user to log in without performing user authentication, the communication processing unit 32 determines whether the logged-in user is executing a job. Operation status data including such information and the type of job executed by the logged-in user is transmitted to the terminal device 3. That is, in this case, since the logged-in user is unknown, the display name of the logged-in user is not transmitted, or a predetermined value such as “unknown user” or blank is set as the display name. In addition, the authentication authorization management unit 35 may determine whether or not to perform user authentication at the time of login with reference to setting information on ON / OFF of user authentication at the time of login.

  In the above embodiment, when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 1 with the department code instead of the user ID, the authentication authorization management unit 35 specifies the department name associated with the department code, and Display name.

  In the above embodiment, an image sensor is provided in the image forming apparatus 1, an image of a user who has successfully logged in is generated, an image data file of the user is generated, and the image data file is embedded in the panel operation status screen 102. The elements may be described in the above-described HTML file, and the image data file may be transmitted to the terminal device 3 together with the HTML file. By doing so, the user's image is displayed on the panel operation status screen 102 based on the image data file.

  In the above embodiment, the operation panel 14 includes login, copy, document box, facsimile transmission, and transmission operation screens. In addition, a program, status, application, universal mode copy, universal mode There may be an operation screen such as transmission by. In that case, when those screens are selected, data indicating the operation status of the screens is generated and transmitted to the terminal device 3, and the operation status is displayed on the terminal device 3. The program mentioned here is a function that registers operations such as copying to the program key and operates the program key to execute the operation with simple operations. When selected by the user, a list of program keys is displayed on the operation screen, and registration to the program keys, execution of operations using the program keys, and the like become possible. In addition, the universal mode is a mode for low-sighted people and is a mode in which characters are displayed in a large size.

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Network 3 Terminal device 14 Operation panel (an example of a user interface)
35 Authentication Authorization Management Unit (an example of a login processing unit)
36 Status management unit 32 Communication processing unit (an example of a first communication processing unit)
61 Communication processing unit (an example of a second communication processing unit)
62 Web browser (an example of a display control unit)

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus connected to the network;
A terminal device connected to the network,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A user interface;
A login processing unit that performs authentication of the user at the time of login of the user based on an operation on the user interface by the user, and identifies the display name of the user from the user ID ;
A status management unit that monitors the operation status of logged-in users,
A web server function that transmits an HTML file including a display name of the user specified by the login processing unit and operation status data indicating a user operation status obtained by the status management unit to a web browser of the terminal device ; and a first communication processing unit,
The terminal device
A second communication processing unit that transmits the request for the HTML file to the image forming apparatus and receives the HTML file transmitted from the image forming apparatus;
On the basis of the HTML file, and a display control unit for displaying the display name and the operational status of the user logged into the image forming apparatus on the display device,
The status management unit (a) when the user performs an operation to display an operation screen of a certain type of job on the user interface, the operation status data is classified into the type until the next operation is detected. (B) When the user presses the reset button in the user interface or detects that the user who is logged in does not operate the user interface for a predetermined time, the next operation is detected. Until the operation status data is on standby until
An image forming system. A communication device connected to the network;
A user interface;
A login processing unit that performs authentication of the user at the time of login of the user based on an operation on the user interface by the user, and identifies the display name of the user from the ID of the user ;
A status management unit that monitors the operation status of logged-in users,
An HTML file including the display name of the user specified by the login processing unit and the operation status of the user obtained by the status management unit in response to a request from the terminal device using the communication device. A communication processing unit having a web server function to transmit to the web browser of the device ,
The status management unit (a) when the user performs an operation to display an operation screen of a certain type of job on the user interface, the operation status data is classified into the type until the next operation is detected. (B) When the user presses the reset button in the user interface or detects that the user who is logged in does not operate the user interface for a predetermined time, the next operation is detected. Until the operation status data is on standby until
An image forming apparatus. 3. The image formation according to claim 2 , wherein the login processing unit permits the user to log in without authenticating the user, and sets a predetermined value including an unknown user or a blank as the display name. apparatus.

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